Donald Trump takes 'thank you' tour to North Carolina
Retired Gen. Mattis will join the president-elect
Newly-elected President Donald Trump will soon take the helm of the world’s most-powerful job. He’ll command an expansive nuclear arsenal, an unparalleled military and a Twitter account with 16.9 million followers.
That last item gives Trump the unique ability to go around the major media. It makes him a one-man super power – able to push policy agendas, compliment allies and critique the press.
The American media are terrified of Trump. They are freaked out by his ability to talk directly to the American public.
Even more, they are enraged over his willingness to attack them – the people who think they are “truth tellers.”
What many in the left and the news media don’t seem to understand is that Trump is doing his job.
In slightly less than a month since the election, Trump has already passed the benchmark of the first 100 Tweets of his new administration. More than one-fourth of those more than 100 tweets has criticized the biased media.
Trump has blasted the “failing” New York Times 10 times, and knocked “one-sided, biased” "Saturday Night Live" and the “highly overrated” play "Hamilton."
According to Socialbakers.com Trump's followers have skyrocketed since the election, from roughly 13 million followers to nearly 17 million.
Monday, he aimed his tweets in a full broadside at the traditional news media:
“If the press would cover me accurately & honorably, I would have far less reason to "tweet." Sadly, I don't know if that will ever happen!” he wrote.
Trump had told "60 Minutes" that he would cut back on Twitter as president just days after the election. “I’m going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I’m going to be very restrained,” he explained to correspondent Lesley Stahl.
That appearance was cited by CBS News on Monday night. But they seem to have forgotten what else he said during the earlier interview. “I have a method of fighting back,” he added.
He’s right. And he needs it to even the odds against the press that is still campaigning against him.
Trump’s tweets have been widely criticized in the media, including on "Saturday Night Live." Liberal actor Alec Baldwin mocked Trump in the skit saying his “brain is bad,” explained Townhall. "‘I just retweeted the best tweet. I mean, wow, what a great, smart tweet,’ Baldwin says after sharing a 16-year-old high schooler’s tweet -- which actually happened last month.” "The View’s" Whoopi Goldberg urged simply: ““Stay off Twitter and do your job now.”
So-called journalists are just as bad. CNN’s Chris Cuomo admitted to Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway the press is “distracted from a little bit of analysis of the cabinet by the tweeting once again.” Cuomo listed a few of the topics Trump had targeted on Twitter and asked her, “Is this really how he's going to spend his time as president?”
The Times ended up confused, wondering, “If Trump Tweets It, Is It News? A Quandary for the News Media.” The news organization that has 32 million followers on Twitter, isn’t sure if Twitter is a legitimate form of communication?! The paper inadvertently made Trump’s case for using Twitter, amidst its internal angst: “Mr. Trump’s Twitter account — a bully pulpit, propaganda weapon and attention magnet all rolled into one — has quickly emerged as a fresh journalistic challenge and a source of lively debate.”
The Times quoted liberal Nation editor and publisher Katrina vanden Heuvel urging news outlets to limit covering what Trump said. “Media would be wise to stop hyper-coverage of Trump’s tweets — they distract, distort and debase,” she whined.
Not everyone agrees that Twitter is bad, even on the left. White House Press Sec. Josh Earnest told reporters defended Trump’s use of Twitter “President Obama has found Twitter to be a useful mechanism for communicating with the American public and providing some insight to all of you about what he’s thinking about,” he told the press corps.
What many in the left and the news media don’t seem to understand is that Trump is doing his job.
Former vice president Dick Cheney gets it. He told a defense forum recently that Twitter is “sort of a way around the press.” Cheney added: “He’s at the point where we don’t need you guys anymore.”
And that’s what really scares journalists. That he doesn’t need them. Why deal with an activist, left-wing news media that is continuing its campaign against him?
Nancy Reagan became famous for the slogan, “Just say no.” In Trump terms, that should become: “Just tweet no.”
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